Call for KZN government to forget the bullet train and prioritise freight

Opposition parties yesterday said the KwaZulu-Natal government should forget about the plan for a bullet train to ferry commuters between Durban and Johannesburg and instead it should prioritise goods trains to ease the congestion on the N3 between the two cities. 

In making the call, Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) added that the provincial government should, instead of spending money on a fast and comfortable train, pour money into getting goods onto trains and rebuilding the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to bring more local passenger trains back to rail. 

Premier Thami Ntuli's during his State of the Province Address (Sopa) last month said plans were in place for a high-speed train between the two Metros. 

However, MKP MPL Mervyn Dirks, during Tuesday's debate on the Sopa, said a freight train would be a solution to the many truck accidents on the N3. 

He said the government was not even committed to a bullet train, which he said was first announced in 2018, but “seven years later Ntuli comes to the Sopa to repeat the same thing”. 

“Forget about the bullet train and look at the trucks that affect the road, bring back the freight trains to get the trucks off the road,” said Dirks.

Another MKP MPL Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza said instead of the bullet train, the Premier was expected to outline plans to revive Prasa, which he said was on the verge of collapsing “because of corruption”.

“Our poor people are serviced by Prasa. When I was growing up, I depended on trains to and from school, some mothers were selling goods in the trains to make a living

“If we allow Prasa to collapse, that would mean the collapse of our nation,” said Chiliza. 

Chiliza also raised concerns about the stalling of the completion of the Go Durban project in the eThekwini Municipality, saying no explanation had been provided for the delay. 

“We are not told how this project would fulfill what it was meant for, which was to create jobs and improve the public transport system for the poor,” said Chiliza. 

Chiliza was also concerned about the Premier announcing the government partnership with Karan Beef, the country's largest beef producer, which he said was monopolising the beef industry. 

Ntuli had announced during the Sopa that the Karan Beef would benefit the historically disadvantaged livestock farmers by “unlocking the full potential of the beef value chain.”

Chiliza said an abattoir in Umkhanyakude, (northern KwaZulu-Natal) was costly to build but  remains a white elephant with no plan to make it function to help local livestock farmers. 

“Every time there are calls for it to function, we are told that it would need R18 million. 

“This would mean that our farmers transport their cattle to Gauteng while they have an abattoir near them,” he said. 

There was also a call for Ntuli to reshuffle his cabinet to replace Nomagugu Simelane as the health MEC for alleged medication shortages in some provincial healthcare facilities. 

“How can the people of KZN believe in him (Ntuli) when he appointed the most incompetent MEC for health? 

“Under this portfolio, we have seen clinics running out of medication,” Dirks said.

EFF MPL Thobisile Nkosi said under Simelane, the health department was struggling to care for patients as it was short of doctors, because of budget cuts. 

IFP MPL Blessed Gwala supported the Sopa, saying its critics were masquerading as paragons of the country’s politics “yet their foundation was laid on the pillars of corruption”.

Defending Ntuli, Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma said Karan Beef was the only abattoir willing to assist 70% of livestock farmers in the rural areas of the province to have access to the market.  

He said Prasa had brought in new trains to transport the people of Durban in comfort. 

“People who travel to town (Durban) will only pay R7 because we have subsidised the trains. It is  proof that our government is assisting people who are going to work.

“It is the same thing with Go Durban, which had won the support of the taxi industry, but the project had been delayed because of some changes, including upgrades,” said Duma

Responding to some issues raised by the opposition parties, Ntuli said the province was working with the national government to address traffic congestion caused by the trucks.       

bongani.hans@inl.co.za